Trucker suspected of killing 3 in horrific DUI crash reported to be illegal migrant

Law enforcement arrested an Indian national suspected of killing three in a major highway accident in California while under the influence of drugs and driving a semi-truck.

Jashanpreet Singh, a 21-year-old Indian national living unlawfully in the U.S., was taken into custody Tuesday after allegedly causing a multi-car pileup along a highway in Ontario, Calif., according to ABC7. Singh, who is suspected of driving under the influence of drugs and vehicular manslaughter, is also an illegal migrant, according to a law enforcement source who spoke on Wednesday with the local news outlet.

“He was eventually transported to the hospital, and he was checked out by the medical staff, and our officers determined he was driving under the influence of drugs,” California Highway Patrol officer Rodrigo Jimenez said in a public statement.

“This is sadly a reminder of how precious life is, and how fast it could be taken away at the hands of somebody who is driving irresponsibly, somebody who is impaired,” Jimenez continued. “The hardest part is knowing that at least three of these individuals will not have a Christmas, will not make it home as we’re getting to the holiday season.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation about Singh’s immigration status. The Indian national reportedly entered the U.S. in 2022 under the Biden administration.

The accident marks the latest fatal accident allegedly involving an illegal migrant truck driver.

Harjinder Singh, an Indian national living illegally in the U.S., was charged in August with three counts of vehicular homicide after allegedly making an illegal U-turn on a Florida highway, resulting in three fatalities. Earlier in October, an illegal migrant trucker from Serbia and Montenegro was arrested in Indiana after allegedly turning onto oncoming traffic and killing another driver.

“Illegal aliens have no business operating 18-wheelers or semi-trucks on America’s highways,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated in a Tuesday press release, declaring that an immigration detainer had been lodged for the driver in Indiana.

The Trump administration has waged a crackdown on illegal migrant truck drivers.

Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy, in September, handed down stricter rules on migrant truckers, declaring that non-citizens who wish to earn non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) must undergo a mandatory federal immigration status check and have an employment-based visa. The new directive could ultimately affect the roughly 200,000 individuals who carry a non-domiciled CDL — many of them commercial truck drivers who did not enter the U.S. lawfully.

When handing down the new rules, Duffy singled out California, saying the state was particularly egregious in doling out licenses unlawfully to foreign drivers.

“California’s reckless disregard is frankly disgusting and an affront to the millions of Americans who expect us to keep them safe,” the DOT secretary said at the time. “California must get its act together immediately, or I will not hesitate to pull millions in funding.”

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